Advances in digital and personal communications, the explosive popularity of the Internet, and an expanding global market have contributed to a “mobile workforce.” The mobile workforce attempts to “stay in touch” with their office telephone and system by using numerous communication devices such as, cellular phones, laptops, pagers, personal digital assistants and personal computers. The dilemma is that currently no single device can meet all the needs of the mobile worker and therefore, the mobile worker is forced to carry or operate multiple “stay in touch” devices. It is clear there exists a need for workers to easily access and control multiple desktop telephone functions at the office while in remote locations.
Various attempts have been proposed to provide mobile workers with remote access to the office. One such attempt by Ward et al. is disclosed in European application number EP 98 30 4009. Ward describes a dedicated gateway associated with an IP network, a switching system and a computing device. The remote user is able to connect to the main office through the dedicated gateway and enjoy a “virtual main office desktop environment.”
Another attempt, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,639 by Staples et al., uses the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) to establish a connection between a remote telephone and a dedicated virtual presence server (“VPS”) at the main office. The VPS provides telephone functions by connecting the VPS to the on-premis private branch exchange (“PBX”) system via additional standard telephone ports. The remote user loses their individual class-of-service properties as defined in the PBX and must follow the permissions defined within the VPS.
Yet another attempt, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,776 by Shaffer, uses a coordinator module at each end of the connection made between a remote telephone and a PBX. The remote user is allowed to move between more than one telephone and the system can move its services to each as required.
As more telephone users obtain everyday access to devices like portable computers, cell phones and personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), and have one or more personal computers in their homes, the requirements for remotely using desktop facilities “back at the office” increase and change dramatically. For example, it would be desirable to access a desktop multi-function telephone in the office from a remote location using a variety of personal communication devices, and not simply a telephone or personal computer.
Moreover, recent developments in hand-held communication devices permit the user to quickly access the Internet via a standard web browser stored on the device. In this manner, these portable communication devices include a display and input means for viewing and browsing on the Internet. Wireless Application Protocol (“WAP”) provides the universal open standard which enables mobile users to easily access web-based interactive information services and applications from their mobile devices. WAP is designed to deliver content in the optimal format for display on thin mobile devices, such as cellular phones. In addition, WAP-compliant services and applications are designed to run over a variety of network types, both current and future. Thus, it would be desirable to utilize a WAP-compliant personal communication device, or the equivalent, to access, control and view multiple office desktop functions from a remote location in a real-time Internet environment.